Systems engineers from the Mayo Clinic Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology (DLMP) were recently interviewed by "Clinical Lab Products" for its October coverage of Lean and Six Sigma laboratory solutions. Featuring several industry experts from world-renowned laboratories, including Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, Cleveland Clinic and Massachusetts General Hospital, the article details how these laboratories have successfully implemented Lean and Six Sigma methodologies, in addition to advising on best practices.

According to Matthew A. Clark, DLMP systems engineer, Lean and Six Sigma are significant to medical laboratory operations.

Matt Clark

“Underperforming medical labs are not immune from being driven out of business through inefficient operations,” stated Clark. “The health and well-being of our families and patients are too important to not take action to improve the cost and quality in this sector.”

Rich Carlson

Along with Clark, Richard Carlson, DLMP systems engineer, advised on factors to consider prior to employing Lean and Six Sigma systems, including identifying failures or risk of failures in a process.

Carlson said, “External forces, such as those driven by the recession or by healthcare reform, may expose risks in our processes that could lead to dissatisfied physicians or patients.”

Kelley Schreiber

Kelley Schreiber is a Marketing Channel Manager at Mayo Medical Laboratories. She is the principle editor and writer of Insights and leads social media and direct marketing strategy. Kelley has worked at Mayo Clinic since 2013. Outside of work, you can find Kelley running, traveling, playing with her new kitten, and exploring new foods.